


Day One Hundred Forty-Eight || A Cat Walks Past

by 365daysofsasuhina



Series: 365 Days of SasuHina 2019 [148]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Historical, F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-29
Updated: 2019-05-29
Packaged: 2020-03-26 19:42:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,858
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19012564
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/365daysofsasuhina/pseuds/365daysofsasuhina
Summary: Having always been able to see into the world of spirits, Hinata can see quite plainly that this cat isn't what he seems. But what he wants from her is the last thing she expects.





	Day One Hundred Forty-Eight || A Cat Walks Past

For as long as she can remember, Hinata has... _ seen things _ . Things...that other people can’t.

When she was young, her father simply assumed it was make-believe - creatures and beings from her imagination that she would play with and talk to.

...but her mother knew better.

Hanako had seen them too. 

Out in the garden behind their home, hidden away from the rest of the village and their superstitions, she had shown her daughter the world of kami and yōkai. For on her mother’s side, and her mother’s mother, pale eyes - all seeing, as each would call them - could peer behind the veil of the mortal plane, and into that of the gods, and spirits.

“You don’t need to be afraid,” Hanako had explained when Hinata first clung to her yukata in fright at the sight of a little kami. “The spirits are powerful, yes...but they are to be respected. So long as you give them what is due, you will have nothing to fear.”

At least...so she’d first claimed. Slowly, she introduced Hinata to the idea of yōkai. Of those spirits more in tune with darkness than light.

“For all good things, so too must there be bad. Yes, some spirits may try to hurt you if they know you can see them...so you must be careful, Hinata. Be open to the gift you carry...but use it wisely. Do not be afraid...but be wary. And remember: such a gift will be coveted by some, and feared by many. Only tell those you trust. People with narrow minds and fearful hearts will harm what they do not understand.”

Hanako was a good and patient teacher. But like so many wells of knowledge...she was lost before she could be fully explored. In the weeks that followed the birth of her second child, her health declined...and Hyūga Hanako was no more.

And so many of Hinata’s questions were left unanswered.

She had nowhere else to turn.

At first, she attempted to ask her father. But he denounced such claims: told her that her mother had been delusional and sick. “Do not follow in her footsteps, Hinata,” he told her, gaze stern and earning a flinch. “There are no such things as spirits. Or, if there were...they abandoned us long ago.”

While many of Japan held such teachings in high regard, the true belief was slowly dying. Humans, in their greed and ingenuity, were slowly forgetting their gods and myths. Miko were being stripped of their power, and temples were dwindling in visitors. Only the old seemed to cling to the supernatural of their land.

And those who could see, as rare as they were.

Both warned by her mother and chastised by her father, Hinata resolved herself to bury her gift - ignore its visions and pretend the veil could no longer be pierced. Her head was kept bowed, her eyes on the ground. To her studies she kept, awaiting the day she, like her mother, would be assigned a husband, and start the cycle all over again.

The Spring of her seventeenth year, Hinata awaits outside a shop where her father has gone to do business. Dressed in a lilac kimono, she idly holds her bag at her front with both hands, staring out without seeing. Every time they go out - which is often - Hiashi has her dressed like a doll, hoping to catch a young man’s eye. He’d prefer to have her married soon, hence taking her into the village at every opportunity.

So far...it hasn’t worked as planned.

...Hinata hates going into the village. It’s crowded, carrying a myriad of smells...some of which are unpleasant. And unlike their rural estate, it feels so...dead.

Only a few tengu sit on a nearby roof, hawking and smoking as the humans pass beneath them, completely unaware. Hinata avoids looking at them directly, eyes held to a neutral place on the building across the street. 

She might do her best to ignore what she sees...but a small part of her still finds a kind of relief when she sees them. A reminder that the spirits  _ do _ still exist. She isn’t crazy. Nor was her mother. And humans haven’t yet completely rooted them out.

While yōkai aren’t always a pleasant thing to behold, Hinata still can’t help small smiles when she sees little spirits toddling about. Arguing tanuki ambling along, kitsune fanning their faces as they gossip. She even once saw an oni come down to their well to take a drink before making his way further down the mountain.

She’d refused to go outside for three days after that, just to be sure he was gone.

Her favorites are the little kodama that linger in the trees around their home. Such curious little things, and the only ones she interacts with directly anymore.

The thought brings a small smile to her face, lost in her daydreams as Hiashi’s voice barely carries out to her. They’re only broken when something unusual passes by in the road before her.

It takes a moment to realize why the cat catches her eye. Sleek, with black fur that stands on end around the scruff of his neck, he paces by before hopping up onto a half wall across the street. Beginning to bathe, he washes at his face, tail flicking idly.

But, wait...no…

... _ tails _ . He has two.

Hinata stiffens. Is...is that…?

As though sensing her staring, the feline looks up mid-stroke, paw raised as ruddy eyes stare right back.

...it feels like he can see her very soul.

Unable to look away, Hinata remains even as Hiashi comes back, muttering something about the shopkeep she doesn’t hear. Then on he goes about her still standing here without a single beau approaching and giving a hint of interest. Something something look more appealing, something something flutter your eyes and give a coy smile.

She doesn’t listen. She’s still staring at the nekomata, who still stares back. His eyes narrow.

“...Hinata!”

Startling as her father raises his voice, she breaks her gaze to look at him. “I...I’m sorry.” Whatever he said, it’s sure an apology is necessary. There’s always something to be blamed on her.

“Come, we’re going home. I’ll not find what I need today.”

Still a bit dazed, she simply falls into step.

Behind her, unseen, the cat follows.

Back home, Hiashi simply takes his leave, not having any further tasks for her. Yet unsettled, she moves into the back garden, sitting on a stone bench and watching mushi flutter about the flowers her mother planted before she died.

“Are you really without a husband?”

Gasping, Hinata looks over to see a man leaning on the corner of the house nearby. Arms folded, he hooks an ankle over the other, posture utterly lax and expression aloof. Dressed in black hakama and a matching haori, he looks rather unremarkable...save for the velvety ears atop his head, and the twin tails that twitch behind his knees. At his hip is a sheathed blade.

It...it’s the nekomata? Did he follow her?!

Too flabbergasted to have an answer, she just...gapes at him.

“...and that confirms you can see more than your typical human,” he goes on, tone drawling. “Funny...you don’t look like a miko…”

“I...I-I’m not…”

“But you can see like one.”

“...yes?” In truth, Hinata knows little of miko beyond the vague rumors of what they’re said to do...or, have done.

“...guess that explains it.”

“E...explains what?”

“Why you’re not married.”

A blink.

Seeing she’s confused, he sighs. “If anyone finds out about your  _ sight _ ...they’ll call you a witch. While powers like that would have seen you revered in years past...times are changing. Humans are losing sight of what true power and enlightenment is. You know how hard it is for someone like you to find a mate?”

Hinata’s cheeks go pink at the word ‘mate’ rather than ‘husband’.

“...but I was also unsure because miko often marry gods.”

“I...w-what?!”

“Didn’t know that particular tidbit, did you?” At that, the nekomata grins, revealing sharp teeth. “It’s true...miko are said to be the bridges between the mortal and the divine. Many take kami as mates. So when that fool you have for a father said you were still looking...it made me...curious.”

In a blink, he’s at her front, a long nail under her chin and lifting her face. Stiff in surprise, Hinata doesn’t dare move. Up close, she can see his red eyes, squinted as he examines her more closely, pupils shrunk to slits. Thick black paint lines his eyes, accented with red. Like most spirits, he’s completely without flaw - there’s not a single blemish in his skin. His hair - though untamed in the back - seems otherwise settled perfectly. Just as it should be. And he smells like incense smoke.

And blood.

After a long pause, he gives her another grin. “You’re pretty for a human,” he notes.

“T...thank you…?”

“Not sure one should accept compliments from a yōkai. Though...you aren’t exactly typical, are you?” He taps a finger to his chin, looking her over again.

Hinata can’t help the feeling she’s being appraised.

“So...what do you say, little veil-cutter?”

“Say? Say about - about what?”

“Your father wants you to find a husband. And what better husband for a miko than someone from the spirit world…?”

Slowly, pale eyes go wide. She -? But -? He -?

Still grinning like a cheshire, he amends, “I might not be a proper kami, but...better a yōkai than a human that would hate you for what you  _ really _ are...right?” A hand waves. “I suppose for your sake I can go through the typical courtships your kind favor. I’ll pay your father a visit a little later. In a human guise, of course. But I think there might be some  _ advantages _ to having a miko around.”

“B-but I’m not a -?”

“Maybe not trained, but you’ve clearly got the talents.” Red eyes flash. “...and those talents can be...useful.”

At a loss, Hinata can only watch as he leaps with feline grace to the wall.

“Before I go, I’ll give you my name: Uchiha Sasuke. And you  _ will _ see me again.” With a wink, he disappears.

Heart pounding in her chest, Hinata tries to rationalize what just happened. A yōkai - a nekomata, no less - has decided to...to...marry her? Why?!

She can’t help but wonder what her mother would think.

...and yet…

He has a point. Her father has always insisted her talent is a sign of derangement. In this day and age, miko and those like them are condemned as witches where they were once called upon to convey the spirits’ messages. Maybe...she really  _ would _ be better off with a husband not human.

Nibbling her thumbnail worriedly, Hinata glances back to the house. He said he would come calling later...should she warn her father? Tell him the man is a fraud? A yōkai? Knowing Hiashi, he’d only dismiss her. There’s little point.

...but does she really want to marry a spirit?!

**Author's Note:**

> Gah, this isn't as fleshed out as I wanted Dx I didn't have time to research as much as I wanted to, so...sorry if this is a little bare-bones. I LOVE Japanese mythology, but I wasn't fully prepared to pull this off as...detailedly as I wanted.
> 
> Anywho, have a back-in-time verse mixed with myth to get a villager!Hinata and nekomata!Sasuke! Nekomata, from what little I could speed-read this late, are...not very nice. Which, to be fair...some things canon!Sasuke does aren't very nice, so...it's hopefully a believable parallel.
> 
> I might do more of this if a prompt allows, and hopefully have more time to look into the time period I want and the myth behind the yōkai more properly. For now...this is all I got lol
> 
> Anywho, time for bed! Thanks for reading~


End file.
